Wishful Adventures | An Original Story

(Ch 2) Careful What You Wish For

"M-master?" Josh stammered.

"Yeah!" the genie replied with an eager grin, floating over to Josh and wrapping their arm around his shoulders.

"You rubbed the lamp and released me! Which means you've got one, two, three wishes comin' your way! You've got the usual three with the usual rules, no wishing for: more wishes, love, harm to others, or resurrection. But other than that, you can have anything ya want!"

They floated above the coffee table, cheering as they posed like they were jumping for joy...until another cracking noise came, to which the genie winced and put a hand on the small of their back.

"Ow," they gasped, slightly curling up in the air. "I've done my back."

Josh's shocked expression softened into one of concern. He set the lamp down on the coffee table and reached up to put a hand on the genie's shoulder.

"D'you need to sit down?" he asked gently.

The genie's eyes sparkled curiously, as if surprised.

"Um...yeah," they replied, realizing that they did need to sit.

Josh carefully led them to the couch, and the genie sat down and laid back against the pillows. They let out a sigh of relief. Josh grinned through his massive tuft of fur.

"Better, huh?" he said.

"Oh yeah," the genie replied, looking relaxed.

Josh's smile widened. "Can I get ya something cold to drink?"

"Oh," the genie's eyes widened, pondering this. "How about, um, a lemonade?"

"Comin' right up!" said Josh, heading to the kitchen.

Josh mixed the lemonade as calmly as he could. He had so much hidden adrenaline now that he fully processed what the heck just happened. He still couldn't believe there was a genie in his home, but his instinct to treat them like a guest seemed surprisingly natural. Josh found himself being so generous, and not asking for his wishes right away. Not that Josh really wanted to make them; as far as he could tell, he had everything he needed.

He brought the lemonade back out to the living room with a soft grin.

"Here ya go," he said, handing it to the genie.

"Thank you," the genie replied, still surprised, and sipping the lemonade. Their eyes seemed to light up as they did.

"I haven't had this stuff in centuries, I forgot how much I liked it!"

That made Josh chuckle. "I'm glad you do."

Then the genie paused, and set down the lemonade with a thoughtful expression.

"You're the first master to treat me this kindly," they said. "Normally my masters start thinking about what they want to wish for right away, and I spend the first hour watching them pull their hair out trying to think of a real whopper."

Josh raised his brows. "That must get old."

"You have no idea," the genie replied, then they twisted their hips, a few more pops issuing from their back in the process.

"Oooh boy!" they gasped, stretching around.

Then they did another shocking thing; they put their hands by their hips, and pushed downward, which popped their torso up off of their waist! They bent their back forward, then their belly backward as they stretched, the bottom of their torso slowly swinging back and forth independently, while their detached lower half from the waist down stayed still, sitting on the couch.

"Ah, that's better," they sighed with a smile.

After the stretching, they lowered their top half back into their lower half. Then they turned and noticed Josh's surprised expression.

"I'm still kinda psyched that you can do that," he said in a small voice. "It's a little weird, pretty cool actually, but weird."

The genie softly chuckled. "I get that all the time," they said. "Wanna see what else I can do?"

"Sure!" Josh answered, child-like curiosity and eagerness sparkling in his eyes.

The genie demonstrated that as well as popping their top and bottom halves apart, they could pop both legs off above the knee, feet at the ankles, arms high above the elbow, and hands at the wrists.

"And my personal favorite," the genie finished, putting their hands on the sides of their face, and popping off — "my head!"

Josh softly laughed at that. "That freaked me out a little the first time," he said, "but now it's fun to watch!"

The genie laughed, still holding their head, and bringing it down to cradle it in their arms...before pulling a rather funny trick.

"Catch!"

They gently tossed their head to Josh at the other end of the couch, and he caught it, his eyes wide with shock.

"This is also a little weird," he said as he held the genie's head, but he found himself trying not to laugh.

The genie did laugh, their headless body seeming to laugh with them. Josh gently handed the head back to it, and the genie promptly put their head back on. They smiled at Josh, who smiled back. Then the genie paused, looking to the side.

"You know, I think you're also the master I've had the most fun with," they said, "and that's saying something, cuz some of my masters make wishes that end up being really fun, but you...I dunno. No one's ever wanted to see what my body can do, and we've only just met and I'm already having so much fun!"

They had begun to bounce in place, looking very excited, then they stopped, and looked embarrassed as they put a hand to the back of their neck.

"Too much?"

Josh's smile only widened.

"Not for me," he said. "I'm autistic. I know how it feels to grow up wishing people would ask you about your talents, hobbies and interests, but they never do, as well as feeling like too much...only because people tell you you are." He caught himself before he could get into one of his angry rambles, and turned back to the genie with an encouraging grin. "I feel you, and you're not too much. You're just you, and that's special!"

That was something Josh had been trying to tell himself for years, and sometimes he still struggled to love his autistic and authentic self. But he had learned he was enough as he was, and tried to ensure the same to the genie. Josh began to think that maybe they weren't just a tool to make the impossible possible; he saw the genie as a person, just like him.

The genie seemed rather touched by Josh's words. Their eyes sparkled gently.

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," they said. "Thank you, uhm..."

Josh internally kicked himself. He hadn't even thought to tell the genie his name, or ask theirs. He smiled and extended his hand.

"Joshua," he said. "Joshua Blofis, or just Josh."

The genie seemed a bit surprised, and curiously reached their hand out in return. Josh gently, but firmly, grasped it and shook. The genie grinned.

"I'm Sapphire," they said.

"Nice to meet ya," said Josh.

"You too," Sapphire replied, smiling eagerly. "You're going to be an interesting master, Joshua."